Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been besotted with crime fiction. As a journalist in Scotland, I got to experience real-life crime on a daily basis. And the world of cozy crime fiction became a very valuable, indispensable escape for me. So, when it came to coming up with my characters for The Bingo Hall Detectives, I knew that I had to create a cast, a setting, a mystery even, that would take me out of the relentlessness of the real world and into the confines of a bloody good read. And I’m so glad I did. The Bingo Hall Detectives series is very dear to me and I’m very lucky to be able to bring it to readers. 


I wrote

The Bingo Hall Detectives

By Jonathan Whitelaw,

Book cover of The Bingo Hall Detectives

What is my book about?

Jason Brazel is an out-of-work journalist who lives in Penrith with his family and mother-in-law, Amita. She knows everyone and…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of A Spoonful of Murder

Jonathan Whitelaw Why did I love this book?

I love a great mystery and I adore fantastic characters.

That’s why A Spoonful of Murder is so high on my list. It’s cozy crime with attitude. Having a detective story that doesn’t feature any actual detectives is the challenge for all cozy crime writers.

And J.M. Hall does this with such verve, vigour, and lightness of touch that you find it impossible not to fall in love with Liz, Pat, and Thelma.

There’s a wonderful fraternity amongst us cozy crime writers and I’m very lucky to count Mr. Hall as a friend. He makes me want to be a better author, just to keep up with him!

By J.M. Hall,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Spoonful of Murder as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Fabulous, cosy, mystery... Wonderful... Absolutely perfect for fans of Richard Osman!' NetGalley Review

Introducing the three unlikeliest sleuths you'll ever meet...

Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their 'coffee o'clock' sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre cafe.

But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy.

By the next Thursday, Topsy's dead.

The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder.

But they know there's more to Topsy's death than meets the eye - and it's down to them to…


Book cover of The Sign of Four

Jonathan Whitelaw Why did I love this book?

I know it’s a bit of a cheat to have Sherlock Holmes here as he’s one of, if not the most famous detective in all of fiction.

However, he’s not an official cop so I’m claiming him for my list.

I remember being gifted a complete works of ACD when I was around 14 for a birthday. And I absolutely adored it from the off.

Like so many other crime and mystery writers, the Sherlock Holmes stories have been a constant, a mainstay throughout my career.

The Sign of Four is the second adventure with Holmes and Watson. And I recently re-read it for the Bloody Scotland Book Club.

It’s remarkable how well it’s aged, despite being over 100 years old. The tropes, style, and attention to forensic detail that ACD shows off are still used in crime fiction today. A truly wonderful masterpiece. 

By Arthur Conan Doyle,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Sign of Four as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As a dense yellow fog swirls through the streets of London, a deep melancholy has descended on Sherlock Holmes, who sits in a cocaine-induced haze at 221B Baker Street. His mood is only lifted by a visit from a beautiful but distressed young woman - Mary Morstan, whose father vanished ten years before. Four years later she began to receive an exquisite gift every year: a large, lustrous pearl. Now she has had an intriguing invitation to meet her unknown benefactor and urges Holmes and Watson to accompany her. And in the ensuing investigation - which involves a wronged woman,…


Book cover of The Marlow Murder Club

Jonathan Whitelaw Why did I love this book?

More murder, mayhem, and madness here, but with the slightest, coziest of touches.

Robert Thorogood is a fantastic writer for the screen too - his Death in Paradise series is beloved the world over. And I was absolutely delighted when I read the first of this terrific series. 

Cozy crime has the unique disadvantage in mystery fiction of not featuring graphic violence and sex scenes. Arguably, these are the best bits of the crime genre. So we writers have to come up with other ways of keeping the readers’ attention. 

That often comes down to character. And Thorogood is one of, if not the best, when character is involved.

A cast that simply leaps off the page and a bloomin’ good mystery to solve too - it’s easy to see why this has become such a wonderful and successful series. 

By Robert Thorogood,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Marlow Murder Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first in a stunning new series introducing the Marlow Murder Club!

'A hugely enjoyable murder mystery written with wonderful verve, humour and compassion. Utterly delightful' Robert Webb

'I love Robert Thorogood's writing' Peter James

From the creator of the BBC One hit TV series, Death in Paradise

To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero...

Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there's no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep…


Book cover of Inherent Vice

Jonathan Whitelaw Why did I love this book?

There are just some novels, and writers for that matter, who stick in your memory.

And for me, there aren’t enough superlatives in existence to capture just how fantastic I think Pynchon is. The elusive author just has “it” - whatever “it” is. The X Factor, raw talent, it’s got many names. No matter what you call it, Thomas Pynchon is dripping in it. 

And for me, Inherent Vice is his best work. From the loveably strange main sleuth Larry "Doc" Sportello to the convoluted plot that deliberately twists you this way and that, it’s got it all. One of those books that I really, really, wish I had written.

By Thomas Pynchon,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Inherent Vice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon-Private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era

In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren't there.

It's been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex- girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It's the tail…


Book cover of The Windsor Knot

Jonathan Whitelaw Why did I love this book?

I am a sucker for something a bit different.

And when I first learned of the wonderful SJ Bennett’s series where her lead detective is Queen Elizabeth II, I was completely sold.

What I love most about this novel, and the series as a whole, is that there’s a wonderful story, cast of supporting characters, and everything, really, that support that simply brilliant concept. Look beyond the fact that the Queen is your protagonist and it’s a completely brilliant novel.

The fantastic, unique, and utterly compelling twist on the sleuth, however, is the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. 

By SJ Bennett,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Windsor Knot as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For fans of The Crown and The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
On a perfect Spring morning at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth II will enjoy a cup of tea, carry out all her royal duties . . . and solve a murder.

'Like an episode of The Crown - but with a spicy dish of murder on the side' (DAILY MAIL)
______________________

The morning after a dinner party at Windsor Castle, eighty-nine-year-old Queen Elizabeth is shocked to discover that one of her guests has been found murdered in his room, with a rope around his neck.

When the police…


Explore my book 😀

The Bingo Hall Detectives

By Jonathan Whitelaw,

Book cover of The Bingo Hall Detectives

What is my book about?

Jason Brazel is an out-of-work journalist who lives in Penrith with his family and mother-in-law, Amita. She knows everyone and everything that’s going on in this corner of the Lakes.

So when it’s discovered that Madeline Forbisher, one of Amita’s fellow regulars at the bingo club has died, found by the postman outside her crumbling country home close to Ullswater Lake, she senses immediately this is no accident.

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Book cover of The Rancher’s Lost Bride

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Leila Monahan is creating her dream family, but when her fiancé gets cold feet, she sends him packing. A sperm bank would be easier but first, she’ll take a DNA test. She doesn’t care about finding her birth parents, but her future children might. The surprising results are nothing to the shock of seeing her first true love back in town, with an eight-year-old daughter.

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What is this book about?

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